September 2008
Hi All,
I noticed some rust at the back of the front wheel arches on the focus estate I have just bought. From the car-by-car breakdown it appears a this is a common fault:
"Rust appears on the back of the front wheel arches. The underseal in this
area is inadequate and Ford has introduced a fix which involves a small strip of plastic that runs the length of the under sill and front wheel arch."
I have seen later focus IIs with a plastic strip running along the sill and I enquired at my local ford parts centre if these or similar were available for my car. They could not find the parts for my car, but did have the parts for later focus IIs, although they said I would need square holes in the sills to fix these on. part details are: wheel arch protector: 1440535 (RHS) 1440536 (LHS). plastic that runs sill length: 1380593 (RHS) 1380594 (LHS)
My questions: Has anyone retrofitted these parts or similar, or is there an actual fix available for my car?
I can't see ford requiring you to make square holes to install a post manufacture fix.
thank you Read more
My son has just bought a 2 door Fiesta. 1 owner only 45,000 on the clock. Great car not a mark on it, engine good but the steering is very heavy. There is no powered steering.I have driven a Renault trafic with no powered steering and fully ladened it was not as heavy as this fiesta. The steering seems to get heavier the more the lock is turned but as you start to straighten up after a bend or corner the stering wheel almost jumps out of your hand as it straightens up the steering. Could it be a faulty castor angle? There seems no way of adjusting it. It passed its MOT a week before it was purchased so I presume there are no major problems and it does not seem to have been in a bump. My son likes the car but this steering is a bit like hard work and it worries me a bit that a car as small as this is so difficult to turn . Any help would be great. Cheers. Paul. Read more
Hi again. Well I tried the WD on the UJ and I think things are better. Not brilliant but like everyone else nowadays I'm so use to power steering. I think it is a bit easier but my son says he sees no difference. I suppose if he can live with it, he's the driver, so I'll leave it there. The great advantage of this site is that although some people suggest solutions to the problem that you have already tried you feel that others are thinking on the same lines as you. This gives you confidence in that you are thinking logically about the fault and so are others. You just have to see if someone has solved the problem with something you haven't tried yet. I hope that makes sense. Many thanks to all who helped. Isn't the internet wonderful!!!! Cheers. Paul.
What is the point of having them fitted, as I cant see any need for them.
Should cars be set to dipped headlights all the time?
Or why not just have a choice of Off or Dipped! Read more
Tyne Tunnel on the A19 anyone?
Me? Old-fashioned British compromise side lights if I remember.
And what happens to you all if there is a power cut and all the lights go off...
Listens to sounds of tinkling glass and rending metal!!
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Cover may be concealed as a slide out tray on the outside of the bit that the cover connects to.
This Q. as when relating my tale of clutch woes, many people had not heard of cars with this feature.
Are they few & far between?
Is there any advantage, or otherwise, to this system? Read more
2.0 HDi Berlingo Multispaces seem to have cable clutches - and the cable needs to come at the front of the gearbox from the passenger side, so it loops all the way around the engine bay. This leads to a heavy clutch and was a big reason in us not buying one earlier in the year (my wife's bad back + heavy clutches don't go together) - we went for a Picasso instead - same approach to the clutch on the gearbox, but hydraulic, so nice and light.
The cable operated clutch on Xantia / ZX / 306 1.9TD etc is an infernal thing - the clutch is pull operated, and the OUTER of the cable moves at the gearbox end. Most confusing, and prone to going heavy with worn cable / clutch combo - which breaks the plastic pedal clip on the Xantia leading to a 3 hour repair to replace the £5 part!! At least the HDi 110 has a hydraulic clutch, but this is a sealed unit which costs £400 for a replacement, and I hate to think how much time / money to fit. Hope mine never springs a leak......
I will be travelling from Glasgow to Hartlepool on Friday (26/09/08). Will be travelling across the A69 to the A1 from the M6. Do any back roomers know of any nice pubs to stop at for lunch? Must be children friendly and not miles off the A69.
Thanks in advance.
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I guess that 17 years after the enquiry was posed, the requirement for being children-friendly may be past its sell-by date! I have, therefore, made the thread "Read only"
Just wondered if they'd ditched them because no one with a BMW where I live seems to indicate. Read more
I find Evoke drivers to be the worst offenders on my twice weekly 500 mile commute down the M6 and M40 at the moment.
...
Hi
I have an Astra SXi 1.6 2001 & have just started to get gearbox problems.
Whilst at a junction today I tried to put the car in to 1st gear and could not get it in, I then tried all the gears, pressing the clutch etc but could not get a gear. Then once I pushed the car to the side of the road I tried again and no problems.
About 5 miles later, I got the same problem. I left it in neutral for a few minutes tried again & I was away.
I can put the car in to any gear now but worried this might happen again.
Any ideas what the problem is? I'm thinking it might be either be the linkage or maybe the gear selectors?
Thanks Read more
Hi there, 2000 reg astra 1600 sxi owner. I'm having exactly the problem you are describing!
for 6 months or so now, sometimes it drives perfect with smooth gear changeother times is really bad! sitting in traffic is guaranteed to start it off, all gears are hard to select especially low gears. also near impossible to deselect and cant get reverse at all just horrible crunching when you try. the clutch pedal also feels a bit loose at this point. in the end the clutch stops working and if you dont turn engine off will stall. when i turn off an wait a couple of minutes turn it back on it is then sometimes fine!! fluid level is fine with no sign of leak. Appreciate any help, thanx!
I was amazed the other night whilst watching Police Interceptors that a blond Essex Bimbo got stopped for having a number plate that contravened every rule - font, spacing, colour, bolts , misrepresentation and no supplier mark.
Even though she admitted that she had been stopped before she got a £30 fixed penalty. Hardly a deterrent is it?
I would have the first offence a £100 fine, the second offence the number is taken from you and confiscated and you have to keep your car off the road until you have re-registered it on new number supplied from DVLA. Which won't happen overnight.
Thoughts? Read more
In centuries past, a minor offender used to be shackled to the stocks in the village and would be pelted with rotten vegetables and fruit and general insults.
Nowadays, a minority of drivers quite voluntarily submit themselves to similar ridicule by devising letter and number combinations which *almost* spell clever words and phrases. They then deliberately draw attention to themselves by fitting plates in bizarre fonts which are intended to make the registrations simultaneously illegible to ANRP but legible to everyone else (doh!)
Reach for those aubergines and mangel wurzels, people: it's time to make the humiliation complete!
Berlingo 51 reg speedo not working. New sensor fitted to driveshaft. Will work with ignition off, and then remove and refit black connector at rear of dash panel display board. Speedo flicks a bit like an electronic reset, then sits just off zero and will work when engine started. After switching off ignition speedo hits zero stop hard and stays there, next time no speedo working unless you pull plug and refit plug again before turning on ignition. Also found removing and refitting unknown fast acting fuse on centre of drivers side fuse panel does same as long as ignition and lights are off. Fuse now fitted with a pushbutton to press before starting car, until I can resolve problem. When battery went flat during investigation speedo would sit just off end stop and work. This stopped when battery charged.
Where is the speedo interface unit? is this built into the dash panel. There is not a direct connection between the black socket and the speedo meter movement on the dash panel. Must be some electronics or something. Can't seem to be able to remove the dial pointers to enable removal and inspection of the dash panel pcb.
ANY TECHNICAL HELP PLEASE.
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From the originator; I have also recently looked at a working citroen and peugot partner speedo. There seems to be a relay clicking for my faulty car after a time period which kills the dash info. The working speedo car waits until the end of the time period for the speedo to drop to the zero end stop. My faulty speedo immediately drops hard to zero end stop when the ignition is turned off. Maybe its just a faulty relay. Ihope to find the relay when I have time and hope I can find somewhere to buy one.
I have also recently cleaned all the earth tags under the driver and passenger foot wells, plus in the engine compartment.
Hi all, i too was very disappointed to be rubbing rust off my 5 year old focus after having two sierras that were adequately protected in that area years ago.
I rubbed surface rust off with wire brush and wet or dry paper then applied hammerite anti rust primer then hammerite stone chip protect. I then bought ford mud flaps which fit very well but unfortunately tend to hold a mass of wet debris on the metal wheel arch lip almost out of sight, allowing it to corrode the metal again!...